Apparatus for marking cloth



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 23, 1935. R. K. SMITH APPARATUS FOR MARKING CLOTH Filed May 12, 1952 April 23, 1935. R. K. SMITH APPARATUS FOR MARKING CLOTH Filed May 12, 1952 2 SheetsSheet 2 FQgi IDA?

fm/vefl/or Qober if 5777/1/67? y A may Patented Apr. 23, 1935 A'EENT FFEQE APPARATUS FOR MARKING CLQTH Robert K. Smith, Bennington, Vt. Application May 12, 1932, Serial No. 610,874

6 Claims.

This invention relates to-an apparatus for marking cloth and is particularly adapted to be used in the manufacture of bathing suits wherein this particular apparatus is used to mark the skirt or upper part of the suit as a guide for sewing onthe'trunk or lower part of the suit. The apparatus" in its preferred form is adapted to, mark'on opposite faces ofthe cloth or suit at the same time.

It is very-important that the piece of cloth which is being marked should be held firmly in position during the marking operation and to this end the apparatus of thisinvention embodies a clamp plate of novel construction and a gage which is provided with means for holding'the edge of the piece of cloth to be marked against the gage while the-clamp plate is being "operated to clamp the cloth to the worksupport.

The preferred form of clamp. plate has ribs extending longitudinally thereof which are oppositely disposed to slots in the work support, and the cloth being interposed between the clamp plate and the work support, the ribs pressthe cloth into these slots, whereupon the cloth is stretched and placed under tension, particularly that portion thereof which is to have a mark applied thereto. I

The invention consists in an apparatus for marking cloth of the character hereinafter set forth in the specification and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings:-

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my improved apparatus for marking the cloth.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same partly broken away.

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation taken on the line 3-3, Fig. 1. V

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation taken on 44, Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional elevation taken on line 5-5, Fig. 2, illustrating the means for holding the lower marker to the lower marker lever.

Fig. 6 is a detail elevation illustrating a bev elled roll and a grooved roll, being a modified form of means for marking the cloth. 7

Like numerals refer to like parts in the several views of the'drawings.

In the drawings, referring to Figs. 1 to 5, inelusive, I ll is a frame or work support comprising a base H and an upper plate I2 which is supported upon the base II by standards I3, M and I5. The plate !2 forming a portion of the work support In is provided with a slot l6 extending longitudinally of the plate I 2 from one end to the line the other thereof. A clamp plate I! is pivotally mounted by hinges l8 and E9 to the upper plate l2 of the work support It and is provided with a slot extending longitudinally thereof and in alignment with the slot H5 in the upper plate E2 of the work support H3.

The clamp plate H is provided with ribs 2| and 22 which are oppositely disposed to slots 23 and 2d respectively in the upper plate l2 of the work support. The clamp plate I! can be clamped and held in clamped position by a bell-crank lever 25 consisting of two vertically disposed arms 26 and 21 fast to a rock shaft 28 and a horizontal arm 29 to which is attached a rod 38, see Fig. 2, which extends downwardly from the horizontal arm 29 through a hole 3! inthe base plate II and is connected at its lower end to a treadle, not shown in the drawings, by which it may be operated.

A bracket 32 is fastened to the standard l5 and forms a stop against which the rear edge of the clamp plate abuts when the clamp plate is thrown upwardly and out of clamping position.

Prior to being clamped to the work support, the cloth 33 is placed withits edge 34, see Fig. 3, against the edge of a gage 35 which is adjustably mounted on the Work support plate l2, being positioned between guides 36 and 37 and provided with a slot 38 through which a clamp bolt 39 projects, the upper end thereof being provided with a thumb nut 45, so that the gage can be slid along the upper plate i2 between the guides 36 and 3! and clamped in adjusted position by tightening the thumb nut Ml and bolt 39.

It is important that theedge 3 5 of the cloth should be held against the edge of the gage 35 at all times and that it should not be pulled away therefrom by the ribs 2! and 22 of the clamp plate I! when said clamp plate is lowered and clamped into position to force the cloth 33 into the slots 24 by means of said ribs, and to secure this end the gage 35 is provided with a presser M consisting of an angle plate which is hinged at 42 to the gage 35. The presser M is held down against the edge 34 of the cloth by spring fingers 43 which are fastened at their rear ends by screws 34 to the gage 35. The front ends of the spring presser fingers 43 are hook shaped at 45 so as to engage the presser 4! when it is moved upwardly out of operative position as illustrated in dotted lines, Fig. 3.

A slide 45 is mounted on the work support plate l2 and projects through the slot Hi therein. This slide is movable on the work support plate l2 longitudinally within the slot l6 and is for the purpose of carrying a pair of levers and 48 which constitute marker holders. The lever 48 is pivoted at 49 to a pair of angle plates or brackets 5!! which are fastened to the under side of the slide 46. A screw 5! projects through the lever 48 adjacent the forward end thereof, the

lower end of said screw bearing against a rib 52 which projects upwardly from the base plate H. This screw adjusts the forward. end of the lever 68 and this adjusts the position of a marker 53 which is positioned upon the forward end of the lever 48.

In order to still more securely clamp and hold the cloth in position during the marking operation, frictional means, preferably strips of sand paper 69, are fastened to the lower face of the clamp plate I! and to the upper face of the work supporting plate !2, see Fig. 3.

Referring to the detail sectional elevation, Fig. 5, it will be seen that the marker 53 has a flange 54 on the lower portion thereof which is positioned within a bifurcated clamp plate 55. This clamp plate is fastened to the lever 48 and is operated to clamp the marker 53 therebetween by means of a clamp screw 56 and nut 51.

The forward end 58 of the lever or marker holder 48 projects upwardly into the slot l6 and the marker 53 thereon is oppositely disposed to and in alignment with another marker 59 which projects downwardly from and is supported by the lever 47. The forward end 60 of the lever 41 projects into the slot 20 in the clamp plate I! and the marker 59 is held in the forward end of said lever by a bifurcated clamp plate 6.! in the same manner as the marker 53 is held by the clamp plate to the lever 48. The lever 41 is pivoted at 62 between two angle plates 63 which are fastened to the slide 46 and is provided with a counterweight 64 at its rear end which normally holds the front end of the lever in elevated position so that the clamp plate I! may be raised and lowered without interference with the lever 4'! or the marker 59 thereon.

The general operation of the apparatus hereinbefore specifically described is as fol1ows:-The clamp plate I? is thrown upwardly into an approximately vertical position with its rear edge resting against the stop bracket 32, and the lever 47 at this time is in its elevated position with the forward end thereof out of the path of the clamp plate H. The operator now takes the piece of cloth, skirt 33, or the like, and places one edge 34 thereof against the edge of the gage 35. At this time the presser 4! is in elevated position as illustrated in dotted lines, Fig. 3. The operator then lowers the presser 4|, pulling the same out from under the hooked portion 45 of the spring fingers 43 and the presser 4i and the spring fingers then assume the relative positions illustrated in Fig. 3 in full lines with the edge of the presser 4i pressing the portion of the cloth 33 near its edge 34 against the plate I2 of the work support l0.

The next step in the operation is to clamp the cloth 33 to the upper plate 12 of said work support. This is done by lowering the clamp plate I! to the position illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 and pressing the ribs 2| and 22 against the cloth 33 and clamping the plate I! in position by the bellcrank lever 25 which forces it into the slots 23 and 24 as illustrated in Fig. 3. Thus the cloth is now firmly held in position and under tension upon the work support. The operator then moves the slide 46 with the levers 4'! and 48 and the markers 59 and 53 thereon forwardly until the markers are oppositely disposed to the extreme left hand portion of the cloth which is marked, as viewed in Fig. 2. The operator then presses the forward end of the lever 41 downwardly until the marker 59 contacts with the upper face of the cloth and the marker 53 contacts with the lower part of the cloth and the two markers grip the cloth between them, whereupon the slide 46, the marker holders 4! and 48 and v the markers 59 and 53 are moved from the left toward the right, Figs. 1 and 2, and thus a mark is made by said markers one on the upper face of the cloth and the other on the lower face.

The cloth now having been marked upon its upper and lower faces as positioned in the apparatus, the lever 41 is released, the counterweight E54 moves it upwardly out of alignment with the clamp plate l1 and the clamp plate I1 is then thrown upwardly until its rear edge rests against the bracket 32. The presser 4! is then lifted or tipped upwardly from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3 to that shown in dotted lines therein and is held in this position by the spring fingers 43. tus and the operation repeated on another piece of cloth or article of clothing.

The markers 53 and 59 are preferably formed of graphite or crayon, but if desired a pair of rolls such as illustrated'in Fig. 6 may be utilized to make a crease in the cloth, one of said rolls 65 having a bevelled edge 66 which fits into a groove 61 in another roll 68. The roll 65 in this modlfi cation will be rotatably mounted upon the for The cloth is then removed from the apparaward end of the lever 41 and theroll 68 will be rotatably mounted upon the forward end of the lever 48 of the apparatus hereinbefore described,

and by pressing upon the lever 41 and drawing it toward the right, Figs. 1 and 2, it will be seen that the rolls will form a line or crease in the cloth which may be utilized instead of a line marked thereon by a crayon, so that the piece of cloth which is marked maybe positioned correctly with relation to another piece of'cloth which is to be sewed thereon.

Iclaim:

1. An apparatus for marking cloth having, in combination, a work support, means to stretch a piece-of cloth and clamp the stretched portion thereof to said work support, a gage on said work support adapted to position said piece of cloth on the work support, aspring-actuated presser hinged to said gage adapted to clamp the edge portion of the cloth to the work support-and a marker slidably mounted on and guided by said work support and adapted to contact with one face of said cloth, whereby a mark may be made. thereon.

2. An apparatus for marking cloth having,in combination, a work support, means to stretch a piece of cloth and clamp the stretched portion thereofto said work support, a slide mounted on said work support, a pair of marker holders mounted on said slide, one adapted to project beneath said cloth, the other adapted to project above said cloth, and a pair of oppositely disposed markers on said holders adapted to contact with opposite faces of said cloth, whereby a mark may be made on each of said faces.

3. An apparatus for marking cloth having, in combination, a work support, means to clamp a piece of cloth thereto, means operable in unison with the clamping means to stretch a portion of the cloth to be marked, a slide mounted on said work support, a pair of marker holders mounted on said slide, one adapted to project beneath said cloth, the other pivotally mounted on said slide and adapted to project above said cloth, and a pair of oppositely disposed markers on said holders adapted to contact with opposite faces of the stretched portion of said cloth, whereby a mark may be made on each of said faces.

4. An apparatus for marking cloth having, in combination, a work support, means to clamp a piece of cloth thereto, a slide mounted on said work support, a pair of marker holders pivotally mounted on said slide, one adapted to project beneath said cloth, the other adapted to project above said cloth, means to adjust the lower holder relatively to the upper, and a pair of oppositely disposed markers on said holders adapted to contact with opposite faces of said cloth, whereby a mark may be made on each of said faces.

5. An apparatus for marking cloth having, in combination, a work support provided with a slot extending longitudinally thereof, a clamp plate on said work support with a slot therein in alignment with the slot in the work support, a slide on the work support projecting through the slot therein, a pair of levers mounted on said slide and constituting marker holders, one adapted to project beneath said cloth, the other adapted to project above said cloth, the upper lever projecting through the slot in the clamp plate, the lower lever projecting through the slot in the work support, and. a pair of oppositely disposed markers on the free ends of said levers adapted to contact with opposite faces of said cloth, whereby a mark may be made on each of said faces.

6. An apparatus for marking cloth having, in combination, a work support, a clamp plate hinged to said work support, ribs on said clamp plate oppositely disposed to slots in said work support, a bell-crank lever pivotally mounted on said work support, one arm thereof extending upwardly and adapted to engage the free end of said clamp plate, and means to connect the other arm to a treadle, whereby the clamp plate may be clamped to the work support.

ROBERT K. SMITH. 

